We all know that the NHL is one of the more curious professional sports leagues to keep track of when it comes to how they spend their money, where it goes and who is getting what. After all, they’re penciled in as the #4 sport when compared with the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball. The Sports Business Journal’s Tripp Mickle today discussed the NHL’s 2008-2009 tax filing showing where the NHL saw their expenses going during that season.

The NHL’s legal costs climbed 48.6 percent during the 2008-09 season, according to its most recent tax filing.

The filing shows the NHL’s legal fees climbed to $3.94 million that season. The NHL declined to comment on the filing, and it remains unclear what contributed to the cost increase.

The tax filings cover the fiscal year July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, a period that saw the NHL conclude a lawsuit with Madison Square Garden over the New York Rangers’ digital rights and begin a bankruptcy trial over the Phoenix Coyotes.

If the league saw their fees increase in a year where the only thing they were really up to was fighting with the New York Rangers over their website, it should be fun to see what happens when the report comes out about what they spent taking BlackBerry guru Jim Balsillie and deposed Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes to court over trying to sell and move the Coyotes out of Arizona.

The other fun note from the league’s taxes is what NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is now being paid to run the league. Get your jokes ready kids.

The package continues the escalation of Bettman’s compensation, which has nearly doubled from his pre-lockout compensation of $3.77 million. During that same period, the league saw its revenue increase from $2.2 billion to more than $2.6 billion.

The fun part here is that now every average NHL player has a minimum number to want to ask for. After all, if the commissioner can be average at his job and make $7.23 million, a fourth-line grinder should too, right? I’m not going to be the guy to come out and yell about anyone’s salary but I think if my name was Gob Bluth from Arrested Development my only reaction would be, “COME ON!”

As for a list NHL players that will make more next season than Commissioner Bettman, buckle up. Note, these numbers are what they’ll actually make next year, not what their cap hit is. As always, thanks to CapGeek.com for keeping track of all this information.

Zdeno Chara – $7.5 million

Eric Staal – $7.5 million

Duncan Keith – $8 million

Marian Hossa – $7.9 million

Rick Nash – $7.5 million

Brad Richards – $7.8 million

Henrik Zetterberg – $7.75 million

Scott Gomez – $8 million

Chris Drury – $8 million

Henrik Lundqvist – $7.75 million

Marian Gaborik – $7.5 million

Jason Spezza – $8 million

Chris Pronger – $7.6 million

Evgeni Malkin – $9 million

Sidney Crosby – $9 million

Dany Heatley – $8 million

Vincent Lecavalier – $10 million

Alexander Ovechkin – $9 million

That’s it. 18 players make more than the league commissioner. It may very well become 19 players if/when Ilya Kovalchuk signs on with someone, so this is subject to slight change. All this tells us, though, is that it’s good to be the king.